Precision M6400 Owner's Lounge

I have copy and pasted from another thread as this is of interest to those interested in the M6400.

Quote:
Originally Posted by 2k5.lexi
There is a full test/review in German.
at w-w-w.notebookcheck.com. im not allowed to put the link here.

ill translate the important points regarding the fan into english:
Idle, less load: Fan off
less/medium load: fan at 3000rpm: 32 DBa --> Running, but very quiet.
heavy (graphics) load: fan at 5000 rpm: 47DBa --> noisy, but not unnerving.

My personal impression:
3000rpms 32DBa is less than talking or knittering sheets of paper.

5000rpm 47DBa is loud, but the acoustic frequency is not unnervig and whining, its more than a loud whisper... dunno how to describe in fact...

Hope this impressions are okay for you.

End of original post. My response is below.

Thanks for the numbers and translation. Do you know of any numbers for the M6400?

Agreed 47dBA is way to loud. Anything at and above 40dBA impacts concentration. Not to mention we are talking about a device that is most likely two feet from the users head.

The following ratings are from:
http://www.sengpielaudio.com/TableOf...sureLevels.htm

50 dBA Refrigerator at 1 m distance, bird twitter outside at 15 m distance
45 dBA Noise of normal living; talking, or radio in the background
40 dBA Distraction when learning or concentration possible
35 dBA Very quiet room fan at low speed at 1 m distance
25 dBA Sound of breathingat 1 m distance
0 dBA Auditory threshold

 

Same here. Premier price was pretty good. Sales rep quote was ... well, MUCH better!

 

Commsoft,

The Precisions offer an HDD with built-in hardware level encryption (full drive encryption). They also include the Wave Embassy Trust Suite software as a standard feature that provides folder level encryption. They also support Vista Ultimate's BitLocker full drive encryption.

The Precisions also include both a pointing stick along with the track pad.

Regards,
David (from Dell)

 

If you read precisely - the model used in the test was M4400, not M6400.

 

Hi, every M6400's owner,
Is anyone run M6400 with XP SP3? I've got a problem with my microphone. (Both the built-in besides the webcam and the line-in port near the headphone at the left side I/O port).

I ran the diagnostic program in the resource disc with the technician from Dell. In the diagnostic test, both microphone device is functional. However, when I run the XP SP3 (from Dell), with the IDT driver (also from Dell, with M6400), none of them could work. I can choose the device from the setting in XP, but neither can catch any sounds.

I don't know whether it's a problem cames from software (XP?, IDT driver? or from the K-lite codec I've installed for watching movie?)

 

Can anyone please tell me how difficult it is to change a laptop's hard drive to a RAID configuration?

Why? Well my Dell m6400 is in its production process and it was order with just 1 (250gb) hard drive because DELL UK did not offer a 2 hard drive option on their customize page.

I called in today to inquire about if it would be possible to have 2 hard drives instead of 1 and i was informed that, any change will cancel my order and i will have to make a new order.(which i obviously declined, I've waited enough already)

So i have decided to buy my 2nd hard drive and have it configured either by myself or through a Dell technician.

So my question again is how easy is it to configure 2 hard drives into RAID 0. Does it require the OS to be removed?

I want to know because that will make RAID configuration my piority once i recieve my laptop before i upload all my backups and software on it.

 

Thanks very much David, that's valuable info! (A little embarrassed that I didn't notice the pointing stick in the pictures... even lacking the scroll controls like the ThinkPad, the stick alone would probably be night and day for me from a trackpad by itself.)

The full-drive hardware encryption does not appear as an option on the order page - how would I select such a thing, and what sizes/speeds are offered? Also, while I've got your attention, do you have any idea about the screen brightness of the Covet display? (I'd ask about the availability of Blu-Ray drives too, but doubt this can be shared publicly even if you know.)

 

Hi folks, I ordered an M6400 last week and my laptop has now been in the "Testing" phase for the last 2 days. It was my impression from this board that this phase is only supposed to last a few hours. Do you guys know what possible explanations there are for this?

 

Mine was in testing for 3 days over the weekend, went to boxing yesterday, shipped today. I ordered on 9/24, the day it was released...

N

 

Its very simple, really. There is a prompt after the initial BIOS screen where you see the Intel Storage Manager BIOS being activated. You push a key there (Ctrl + I, I think) and then you get a screen where you can setup RAID options. It will require a reinstall of Windows; be aware of that though.

N